


in between breaths

by ryukogo



Series: the flowers we breathe, the words we don't speak [1]
Category: A3! (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood, Cliffhangers, Falling In Love, Flowers, Fluff and Angst, Hanahaki Disease, M/M, My First Work in This Fandom, Pining, Sharing a Bed, hanahaki byou
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-21
Updated: 2020-07-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:42:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25422595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ryukogo/pseuds/ryukogo
Summary: Muku says Tenma has reverse hanahaki - wherein someone's in love with him, but HE'S the one experiencing hanahaki.How bullshit could things get, really?
Relationships: Furuichi Sakyou/Tachibana Izumi, Rurikawa Yuki/Sakisaka Muku, Sakuma Sakuya/Sumeragi Tenma, Sumeragi Tenma & Summer Troupe
Series: the flowers we breathe, the words we don't speak [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1846387
Comments: 4
Kudos: 87





	in between breaths

**Author's Note:**

> hi my brainrot is real

“Rurikawa…”

Yuki doesn’t answer.

“...” A shake of the shoulder. “Rurikawa…!”

Yuki grunts and burrows deeper into his pillow. He really wanted to sleep, thanks, so he was  _ not  _ entertaining  _ any  _ bullshit from that good-for-nothing actor at this hour - not after he’d been hard at work sewing something new with Taichi for the Winter Troupe’s upcoming performance.

_ “Yuki!” _

Tenma shakes him awake one night with worry on his face and flowers in his hands. The flowers are a familiar pink that Yuki recognizes as that of a cherry blossom’s, but that was strange - it wasn’t cherry blossom season, was it? How did he have petals of a cherry blossom with him? Was that a… thing his expensive hobby of bonsai care did - produce little blossoms or petals just like that even out of season? Before he can even ask about them, however, Tenma’s body is wracked with coughs, and he sees cherry blossom petals fall from Tenma’s lips faster than Yuki could think of nicknames for a single person.

“What the fuck?” Yuki says, because it’s the first thing on his mind. He’d ask if the hack was okay, but he clearly wasn’t.

He sits up, running a hand through his hair before picking up a handful of the petals that Tenma had unintentionally dropped all over his sheets. They’re definitely cherry blossoms, but some of them were stained red at the tips in a way that Yuki hadn’t ever seen before. Reaching over and grabbing his phone, he turns it on and points the light source at the petals in his hand before recoiling.

“Blood…?” Yuki wonders out loud, looking up at Tenma. He’d known that Tenma had been coughing for  _ weeks _ , but for that to have turned out like this? “Sumeragi, what the  _ fuck? _ ”

“I don’t know,” Tenma whispers, and it’s so uncharacteristically gentle of him that it makes Yuki metaphorically stagger back. This isn’t the Tenma he knows - or at least, the Tenma he’s used to. Something was  _ wrong.  _ “I don’t know-  _ fuck,  _ I don’t know where these are coming from- I’ve never- I didn’t eat-”

Yuki lightly whacks his arm, prompting Tenma to jump. “Oi, snap out of it. Don’t panic yet. First, we’re going to clean this up. Second, we’re going to call a summer troupe meeting-”

“No!” Tenma nearly shouts, but remembers to muffle with his own palms. At the scandalized look on Yuki’s face, he amends, “I- look. It’s the middle of the night. We can’t bother them.”

Yuki gives him a deadpan look. “And yet you disturbed  _ me?  _ Listen, you hack. I thought we all agreed that the summer troupe would not deal with things all on our own anymore.”

“I-”

“This is a thing that you’re dealing with.” Yuki jabs a finger into Tenma’s chest. “And as one of your troupe members - specifically the one that’s sharing a  _ room  _ with you and the one you  _ woke up  _ \- , I say we gather the others in here. Now.”

“But-”

“Oi. Are you Tenma Sumeragi the fearless leader, or what?” Yuki challenges. “Are you scared of them knowing?”

“No!”

“Great.” Yuki says decisively, prompting Tenma to just goggle at him. “Stay here and make sure to keep track if you cough up any more of the…” Yuki looks back at his palm again. He lets the petals in his hands fall onto his desk, crumpled thanks to how he’d clenched his fist. “... the petals. I’ll go wake up the others.”

* * *

Yuki knocks once on Muku and Kazunari’s door.  _ Knock. _

He waits for a moment, and then knocks four times -  _ knock, knock, knock, knock -  _ in a diamond shape, before knocking three times in succession -  _ knockknockknock _ . It’s a kind of knock he and Muku had invented for themselves sometime during the second year, one that they used whenever they wanted to wake each other up for something but didn’t want to disturb their roommate.

He waits.

_ Knock, knock knock knock, knock.  _ Pause.  _ Knock knock. _

A small smile crosses his face. Muku was awake.

The door opens, and Yuki’s greeted with the sight of Muku’s sleepy form rubbing at his eyes, a hand clutching his pillow as he yawns loudly, blinking at Yuki. “Yuki… it’s the middle of the night. What’s the matter?”

“Wake up Kazunari, will you?” Yuki asks him. “I’m going to go wake up Kumon and Misumi.”

“W-what for?”

“Tenma’s calling a meeting. Meet us in our room in a few minutes.” Yuki nods his head at him before turning to knock on Misumi and Kumon’s door, when-

Muku looks at him, eyes now more awake and alert. The grip on his pillow tightens a little. “Yuki… you just said his name.”

“...” Yuki doesn’t answer, turning to face the other door. “... I did.”

Muku frowns. “Yuki… it’s that important, huh… alright. I’ll wake up Kazunari.”

“Thanks,” Yuki murmurs before raising a fist to knock on the door - except the door already opens before he can knock on the door, and his fist instead knocks on Kumon’s head. “... Ah.”

Kumon, to his credit, doesn’t seem bothered by that. He’s not smiling, but his eyes are just as bright and wide-eyed as they usually are. “Heard you and Muku talking. What’s up?”

“Troupe meeting.”

“At this hour?”

“You ask me this when you’re already wide awake? Might as well make use of your waking hours, tiny brocon.”

Kumon laughs awkwardly. “Fair, but you see… it was Misumi who woke up first, actually. He sensed something was wrong, and woke me up, but we couldn’t figure out what was up until you showed up here at our door, so we’ve just been kind of stacking things in pyramids.”

“... Huh,” Yuki murmurs, glancing over Kumon’s shoulder to see Misumi already looking at him, somber. It would have been a lot more serious if he wasn’t surrounded by recently constructed card towers, but he digressed. “Well… since you’re both awake already, come with me to our room. It’s important.”

“Is Tenma okay?” Misumi asks, the first words he’s spoken the whole night. The concern lacing his tone is incredibly evident.

Yuki meets his gaze with the most serious look he’s able to give. “... That’s not something I can answer on my own.”

* * *

“So you woke up coughing out flowers, huh…”

“That’s so weird, but also cool! But also… not very cool, because you’re coughing them up. That’s gotta hurt.”

The summer troupe, sitting in a circle on the floor of Yuki and Tenma’s room, all ponder the current situation. The flowers that Tenma had already coughed up were right in the center of all of them, so it looked a little like a summoning circle or something. Tenma, thankfully, had reported to Yuki that there hadn’t been an increase in coughed up flowers while he’d been gone, so that was a mild relief for the time being, but it didn’t solve the issue.

Kazunari hums thoughtfully, rubbing his chin. “You really didn’t eat flowers today?”

“No! The fuck do you take me for?!” Tenma protests.

“No anything with flowers in it? Candied flowers, et cetera, and all that? Any from admirers? All that sort?”

“No!” Pause. “... Yeah, no. I had to think about that for a moment, fuck you. I’m not that stupid.”

“I’m just saying, we need to consider  _ all  _ possibilities.”

Yuki crosses his arms, watching as Misumi had begun to assemble triangles out of the petals in the middle. It was getting dangerously close to being a summoning pentagram, but then Misumi had decided it was a boring pattern and made something like the Olympics logo but with triangles instead. “We’re getting nowhere, you know.”

“Aha!”

Tenma and the others blink up in surprise. Muku, who’d been contemplating the flowers on his own, suddenly speaks up with sparkling eyes. He pounds his open palm with his fist. “I knew it! I’ve seen this before!”

“You have?” Yuki asks.

Muku nods. “... Someone I knew on the track team had it once. Kumon, do you remember? I told you about this once.”

“... Oh!” Kumon lights up before his gaze turns somber. “Yeah… the poor guy.”

“Y-you’re making it sound like he died-!” Tenma stammers. The fear in his eyes is much too prevalent for Yuki’s liking, so he punches Tenma’s shoulder again. “Oi!”

Muku yelps, waving his arms around frantically. “Oh, he didn’t die! Sorry if such a useless peabrain like me made you think that way-! It’s- well. He could have died, though, but he didn’t.”

“C’mon then, Mukkun. Tell us more about it!” Kazunari leans forward eagerly. “What’s this flower business all about?”

Muku nibbles on his lower lip before saying, “Hanahaki.”

“Bless you.” Yuki says automatically.

“N-no. You throw up flowers, because you’re in love. That’s hanahaki byou- floral vomiting.” Muku pushes the tips of his index fingers together nervously, resting his elbows on the pillow on his lap. “Flowers will grow in your lungs the stronger the feelings get, and unless you confess to the person you love and they return the feelings, the flowers will take over, and kill you.”

Tenma goes white.

Yuki aims his stare at him. “Oi. Who are you in love with, hack?”

“Wh- I’m not in love with anyone!” Tenma protests. At the looks the others give him, he insists, “No, really! I’ve  _ been  _ in romance shoots, but I’ve never fallen in love with anyone! I think I’d know if I was head over heels for someone like that old man for the director!” His voice seems to falter at the end, as if unsure.

Misumi taps his chin, squinting at him before his face clears. “He’s not lying.. I think.”

“Useless actor probably wouldn’t know he was actually in love until it was too late.”

“OI!”

“Then… oh, oh no.” Muku pales a little.

“What is it, Mukkun?” Kazunari asks.

“If Tenma genuinely doesn’t know if he’s in love, it could be the other kind of hanahaki, then, since normal hanahaki operates on you being aware you’re in love with someone, or presently aware of affection for that person… the much rarer kind, and usually worse one.” Muku whispers softly. Judging from the expression on his face, it’s not a good thing. “... There’s someone in love with you. But  _ you’re  _ the one with the hanahaki.”

Silence.

And then, a muted uproar. The others in the dorms were still asleep, after all.

“Someone’s in love? With me?” Tenma asks faintly. It’s a daunting prospect, but Yuki can tell by the look on his face that someone had just come into his mind. “... Wait, if they are- why don’t they just tell me, huh?!”

Kazunari shrugs. “Tenten, you gotta understand you’re intimidating.”

“HA?!”

“See, right there. On top of that, you’re a popular star, and an actor. People who’d fall for you would be intimidated by any of that!” Kazunari points out matter-of-factly. “They’d probably think that they wouldn’t be able to match up to that, and all that stuff. Trust me, a lot of the friends I’ve met in college do this song and dance. It’s a thing.”

Yuki sighs. “Much as I hate to admit it, you’re famous for things that aren’t related to MANKAI. People would definitely feel like they’d be fighting a losing battle, falling in love with a hack like you.”

“You compliment me and then manage to insult me in the same breath-?!”

“But… they wouldn’t know the real Tenma though, right?” Kumon muses. “If they’re basing it off the Tenma they see in interviews and TV shows. How could they say they’re in love with Tenma if they’ve never really known the real him?”

The troupe falls into silence.

Misumi, who’d just made a rather nice pile of petals, says, “Then that means it’s someone in the dorms!”

“... Wait, huh?!” Tenma boggles at him.

Misumi nods, as if satisfied with himself. “Yep. It’s gonna be someone in the dorm in love with you. Only the people in the dorm would know how triangular you are, and that’s why they’ll know the real Tenma, who is a very triangular leader.”

“What does that even mean?!”

“Isn’t it bad, though?” Yuki asks with a frown. “If you want to survive, you have to return the feelings of the person who  _ gave  _ you this in the first place, or you die. That’s what I’m getting.”

Muku hugs his pillow with a frown. “There’s getting an operation, but… in some mangas, I read that if you get an operation, you forget how to romantically love ever again when they get rid of those flowers. Other mangas have the person forget the one they loved, or forget they ever loved that person.”

“Are they seriously all tragedies?” Tenma asks.

“There’s a few I’ve read where they reciprocated and it ended happily, but those are rare…”

“...” Kazunari looks over the petals again, and frowns. “... Sakura petals, huh.”

“You look like you have an idea, Kazunari,” Yuki notes.

Kazunari winks at him. “I have an inkling of who it could be. But don’t do anything yet. I need to do some digging and asking around first. You trust me?”

“... Of course,” Tenma nods, and the smile on his face is genuine. “Thanks, everyone.”

“Great! Then as your thanks, we’re gonna sleep over here tonight.”

“Wait, I didn’t agree to that-!”

“It’s only fair,” Kumon argues peacefully. “Besides, it’s gonna be a little troupe sleepover! That’ll be great, right? That way we don’t have to travel all the way back to our rooms since we brought over our pillows, anyway.”

“Grr…”

“Um, Yuki?” Yuki looks over at Muku, who fidgets awkwardly. “... Can I share the bed with you tonight?”

Yuki raises an eyebrow, but nods. Muku was definitely the best person to sleep next to out of the four visitors to their room, in his opinion, and he was definitely more comfortable sleeping next to him than anyone else there. Such was their friendship. “Yeah. Sure. You got your own pillow, right?”

“Mm-hmm!”

“Then we can share the blanket too.”

Kumon cheers. “Then I’ll share with Tenma!”

“And Sumi and I will sleep on the floor!” Kazunari high fives Misumi.

“Oi! You’re already making plans without me?!”

* * *

“Hey, Yuki?”

Muku’s voice is soft, very quiet. Yuki’s back is to him, but he hears him just fine when he whispers his name. He rolls over to face Muku, and is greeted to the sight of his eyes looking softly at him, half-lidded with sleep and cheeks rosy. He doesn’t know why the sight makes his chest squeeze a little. “What?”

“... I’m worried about Tenma,” Muku admits quietly, eyes turning downward. “... Hanahaki never ended well in the mangas I read. I said earlier that the good ending ones are rare to give Tenma hope, but I’m just a useless liar who wants to pretend everything is alright...”

Yuki blinks slowly. “Don’t call yourself useless, you’ve probably been the most helpful one here earlier. How did they end?” Pause. “The majority of the mangas.”

“... The person with hanahaki died,” he says softly, and his eyes squeeze shut. “I don’t… I don’t want Tenma to die, Yuki. If he dies, we’ll be down a friend and a leader, and then the summer troupe will have to disband, and then MANKAI will shut down, and then we’ll all be forced to work minimum wage jobs that barely support us, and-”

Yuki reaches over and presses a finger to his lips, silencing him. “Muku, you’re spiraling.”

“... Sorry,” Muku whispers. “But… yeah.”

“... I’m worried about him too,” Yuki admits. The two of them pause for a moment to hear Tenma’s loud sleep talking before they both laugh quietly to themselves. “But the hack is strong. We’ve been through a lot already - flowers in the lungs can’t stop even him. And we’re going to help him, aren’t we?”

Muku’s eyes sparkle, and he nods, smiling at Yuki. “Mm-hmm. We’re going to help our friend Tenma, because that’s what friends do, right?”

“Of course.”

“Gotta…” Muku yawns. “Help each other out when needed…”

Yuki’s gaze softens. “You’re getting sleepy already.”

“‘M’not… really…” The pink-haired boy yawns again, and Yuki rolls his eyes good-naturedly before lightly tapping on Muku’s forehead with a finger. Muku, unable to do much more than react, makes a soft squeak at that as his cheeks flush a little darker, which makes Yuki laugh. “Yuki…!”

Yuki pulls his hand back, snickering quietly before saying, “You’re really bad at lying, wonder boy. I’ll go roll over now so I don’t disturb you any further.”

“... Um, Yuki?”

Yuki stops rolling over midway. “What?”

“C. Can I. Um.” When Yuki rolls back to face him, he sees Muku’s face burning a bright red. “... I only have one pillow tonight, but I usually have two because I hug the other one in my sleep.”

Yuki raises an eyebrow.

“... Um!” Muku squeaks, and the sight is unfortunately  _ very  _ endearing to Yuki as he stammers, “So um! If I ever like. Hug you in the middle of the night please don’t hate this boiled lettuce leaf that I am who clings like a lazy koala-”

“Muku.” Muku clams up. “I won’t mind if you do that, since you warned me it could happen.” Why would he mind, anyway? “If you hadn’t warned me that’s when something might’ve gone wrong.”

“W-what kind of thing?”

“...” Yuki pauses. “... I probably would have punched you in the gut.”

“Grk-!” Muku visibly blanches. “So then… since I warned you, it’s okay?”

“Yeah.”

The pink haired boy sighs in relief. “Thanks, Yuki. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

* * *

True to his word, he eventually does find Muku spooning him later on in the night, Muku’s leg throwing itself over him and Muku’s arms wrapping around his torso, holding Yuki close to him. He can feel the tickle of Muku’s hair next to his ear, his breath warm on Yuki’s shoulder. It’s a closeness he’s not particularly used to, even with how close they were as friends.

With his eyes already adjusted to the darkness, he sees the sleeping forms of the rest of the Summer Troupe scattered all over the room. Misumi had already thrown himself over Kazunari’s body like a large cat, while Tenma seemed to be doing well despite the fact that Kumon had somehow managed to maneuver himself upside down and throw a leg over his stomach. It’s generally quiet in the room, besides Tenma’s aggressive sleep talking and Kumon seemingly responding to them while asleep… peaceful.

Quietly Yuki wonders if this was what happened with the Spring Troupe when they’d slept on the stage in an attempt to foster friendship. Something similar, except all of them had been on the floor. Here, he and Tenma still took to their beds while they just got joined by the other four members of their troupe. It was the same sentiment, right?

“Mmmnh…”

Yuki’s breath stutters when Muku buries his face into his shoulder. Muku had  _ warned  _ him he was a cuddly sleeper, and yet he was  _ vastly  _ unprepared for exactly  _ how  _ cuddly he was. He wanted to move, but that meant disturbing Muku - and he didn’t want to wake him up as it is. He and Tenma had already woken up the others at a terrible hour - the least they could do was let them sleep soundly.

_ Maybe I can…?  _ Yuki, carefully, ever so carefully, tries to roll over despite the fact that Muku’s arms were wrapped around his torso. He freezes when he feels Muku stir a little, but then relaxes when he settles back down. He rolls over the rest of the way, and-

_ Oh. _

Muku really was cute, wasn’t he?

Yuki finds himself just watching him for a few minutes, content to see his friend’s face in such serenity. He and Azami had told Muku many times that he looked much better when he wasn’t worrying too hard about anything - well, Azami had chastised him to death about it since he quite liked working with easier-to-handle skin - , and right now they were being proven right. Muku was adorable.

And as handsome as a prince, but that was another can of worms that Yuki wasn’t keen on opening right now in the middle of the night. Not now. He could deal with  _ those  _ thoughts when he woke up later.

Yuki bites his lip momentarily before muttering ‘fuck it’.

* * *

The next morning, he briefly wakes to find Muku staring at him with wide eyes and a face redder than Taichi and Sakuya’s hair combined. And his arms around Muku’s body. And Muku’s face only a few inches away from his.

… Yeah. Okay. That was a thing.

Yuki doesn’t say anything, only staring right back at Muku with half-lidded eyes and the morning sun peeking through the windows in their room. He was still rather sleepy, mind you, so if Muku wasn’t going to move, he wasn’t going to move. It’s a few minutes before his eyelids flutter closed again, and he drifts back off to sleep - 

\- but not before he feels Muku shift and just tuck his head under Yuki’s chin, resting a cheek against his collarbone. It was like he  _ fit  _ right there, like a puzzle piece that was in the right place. Muku’s arms that had been around his torso are more hesitant this time, more aware of himself, but they hadn’t really removed themselves from him, so Yuki doesn’t pay it much mind.

“Yuki?” He hears Muku whisper, like a breath on the wind. “Are… are you awake?”

Yuki doesn’t answer. He only evens out his breathing as if to tell Muku ‘no, I’m asleep’. But he’s awake, sort of. A little aware, a little unaware - he mainly just wanted to sleep in a little longer. They didn’t have school today, anyway. They could sleep in.

“... Guess not,” Muku’s voice is soft, tender. “...”

Yuki’s heart stutters when Muku shifts again to hesitantly press a kiss to his forehead before returning to his place resting below his chin. When he opens one eye a little, he sees Muku practically curling up around him, and his cheeks burn a little brighter.

His chest hurts.

When it’s clear that Muku had fallen asleep again, Yuki allows himself to close his eyes again, attempting yet again to sleep-

**_“NYAPPARE! NYA NYA NYA NYA NYANSEI! NYAPPARI! NYANTE TATTE BOUKEN!”_ **

Muku’s forehead collides with his collarbone. Yuki’s head collides with the bedpost. Tenma howls when Kumon accidentally kicks him in the jaw, Misumi practically  _ leaps  _ to the ceiling.

“WHOSE FUCKING ALARM IS THAT?!” Tenma shrieks.

Kazunari, sheepishly, reaches over for his phone and turns it off, just in time for Misumi to fall back down on him with a loud ‘oomf’.

* * *

As Kazunari had planned, they’d all split up to cover all the bases in the dorms. Kazunari had taken it upon himself to ask around the Spring Troupe, while Muku and Kumon had gone to ask the Autumn Troupe. Yuki and Tenma had gone to ask the Winter Troupe, while Misumi had ambled on over to the director and Matsukawa on his own to see if they had any advice or ideas.

It’s Tsumugi they find first, taking care of the flowers in the garden as he usually was. The man seemed to be talking to an orchid he was currently watering, but before they could even step close he looks up and smiles at them. “Yuki, Tenma. You two aren’t usually together without fighting. Is something the matter?”

“Sort of?” Tenma begins.

Yuki finishes it. “Tenma has hanahaki and we’re trying to figure out who’s in love with him because the hack ended up being blessed with the other, rarer kind.”

Tenma glares at him, scandalized.

Tsumugi’s eyes widen briefly, and he lowers his watering can. “Hanahaki byou? You’re sure?”

“He was coughing up these last night.” Yuki reaches into his bag and pulls out the crumpled remains of the petals they hadn’t thrown out yet as evidence, holding them out to Tsumugi. “Cherry blossom petals.”

Tsumugi bites his lower lip. “... Ah.”

“You look like you know something.”

“... Well. I can admit that much, at least. But it’s not my place to tell you - it’s their place to admit it to you,” Tsumugi confesses. “This is not my secret to tell. But if it eases your worries, the person is a good person, and we know them.”

Tenma throws his hands up in the air in frustration. “That’s literally  _ everyone  _ in this dorm.”

“I’m really sorry I couldn’t be of any more help.” Tsumugi bows his head apologetically. “Maybe Sakyo can help you. He had hanahaki once - the usual kind.”

Both Yuki and Tenma look at him with wide eyes. “The  _ yakuza _ ? Really?”

“Didn’t you notice?” Tsumugi looks at them with genuine concern. “There was a period of time where he’d been forced into bed rest by Azami and Ken because he kept coughing up moonflowers. Of course, he’d practically bullied the rest of us into keeping quiet, so it makes sense that the summer troupe didn’t hear the specifics…”

Tenma palms his face in exasperation. “The old man’s still here, which means he survived. How.”

“Who.” Yuki corrects.

“Who do you think?” Tsumugi teases, and it only takes a few moments before Tenma and Yuki both come to the same conclusion and say, “The director.”

“Did he have to confess on his deathbed?” Yuki asks Tsumugi.

Tsumugi shakes his head. “Sakyo is a practical man, all things considered. When it was clear that he couldn’t hide it any longer, he asked for Izumi and laid it all bare. It was the most open anyone had ever seen him be.” With a laugh, Tsumugi picks up his watering can again. “Of course, it took a while before Izumi processed it - and a while before she exclaimed that she felt the same, but the ending was all right.”

“Didn’t Psycho Stalker try to kill him?” Yuki asks.

Tsumugi grimaces. “Well, yes. Once, when Sakyo was feeling better. But he’d also decided on his own that he’d rather that Sakyo was the man he lost to than anyone else, because he knew Sakyo, so all Sakyo had received was a death threat and he’d asked for a promise of caring for Izumi. Very mature of him, I’d say.”

“If you call his dumb ass mature,” Yuki mutters, crossing his arms. “... Thanks though, Tsumugi.”

“Anytime, you two- ah, Yuki? Could you stay behind for a bit?” Tenma and Yuki look at him curiously. “Tenma, you should go see Azuma. More likely than not he has advice that may help you, since he’s listened to peoples’ troubles before.”

“I’ll follow later, you hack. Don’t worry about me and go visit Azuma,” Yuki waves his hand. Tenma bites his lip, but eventually relents and turns around, leaving Yuki to face Tsumugi with a raised eyebrow. “Okay, now we’re the only ones here. What is it?”

Tsumugi looks down at the ground for a bit. “... The person who loves Tenma… he’s resigned to Tenma not really returning his feelings.”

“... Ha?”

“He’s a good person, that boy,” Tsumugi begins softly, turning to face the flowers he’d been talking to earlier. “An endearing sort of person, with a smile so warm that even the coldest heart would melt a little at the sight of it, and an earnestness that made you want to try hard at any endeavor.”

The first thought in Yuki’s mind is that Tsumugi was talking about Muku, and the thought of Muku crushing on Tenma makes his stomach churn unpleasantly for some odd reason. He’s not very keen on being sure as to why this was so. “I hope you’re not referring to Muku.”

“Ah… no, I’m not, so you can rest easy.” At Yuki’s bewildered stare, Tsumugi chuckles. “I know the look on your face, Yuki Rurikawa. You didn’t like the thought of Muku crushing on Tenma, did you?”

“... Maybe.”

“Do you like Muku?”

“He’s my friend.”

“You know that’s not what I mean, Yuki,” Tsumugi says gently. “But if you won’t admit it, then that’s alright with me.”

“Why’d you ask me to stay back? Was that all?”

The older man hums, watering another one of the orchids. “... I just want to get your promise that you won’t tell Tenma what I’m about to tell you, because it’s important that he learns to love this person on his own before it’s too late for the both of them.”

“Huh?” Yuki blinks rapidly.

“This person… he’d come to me too, before, on assistance with hanahaki. Apparently, he’d been coughing up sunflower petals, and sunflowers are Tenma’s flowers, aren’t they?” Tsumugi’s smile is sad. “He loved Tenma. I knew it before he’d even told me himself. He told me not to tell anyone, but...”

“Wait, but… why does the hack cough up flowers if this person has the normal hanahaki?”

“That’s what I don’t know. I was surprised when you two came forward with this because I already knew of this beforehand.” Tsumugi frowns, facing the gerberas. “This might be more dangerous than I thought… Yuki.”

Yuki snaps to attention.

“It’s Sakuya. You’re looking for Sakuya.”

* * *

The way Yuki tears through the dorms is frightening, startling Banri and Juza into stepping back when he runs past them on the way to where he knows Kazunari had been scouting out the Spring Troupe. He must’ve been quite the sight - pastel pink and green blazing like an open flame to where he knows Sakuya Sakuma and Citron were usually hanging out together. 

“Yuki!”

“Not now, Muku,” Yuki grits out, but despite himself he’s glad to have Muku running alongside him. Track and field had done wonders for Muku, and was probably the reason he was able to keep up with the adrenaline-fueled speed Yuki currently possessed in his body. “I need to talk to Sakuya.”

Muku falters a bit before his eyes widen in realization. “It’s him, isn’t it?”

“Yup.”

“H-how’d you find out?” Muku strides a little faster to match his steps again. “Where’s Tenma?”

“Tsumugi- he said Sakuya’s been coughing up petals too.”

“B-both hanahaki variants?!”

“ _ Apparently. _ ”

They were in front of Sakuya and Citron’s room now. Without so much as a warning, Yuki throws the door open-

\- and sees Sakuya curled up on the floor, coughing up full heads of sunflowers while Citron’s just about ready to tear his hair out when he sees Yuki and Muku at the doorway, horrified.

“Director,” Citron pleads, and it’s all the incentive Muku needs to force himself to run- to fetch the director herself while Yuki’s torn between calling Tenma to get this over with or helping Sakuya out.

He ends up choosing the latter option.

Yuki looks at Citron, and sees worry lines creasing his face. “How long has this been going on?”

“Weeks,” Citron says mournfully. “But Sakuya- he told me to not tell anyone. I could not tell.”

Yuki glares at Sakuya, but his gaze softens when he sees how weak the older boy had already become. “Idiot 100% concentrate. Why didn’t you let Citron tell anyone?”

“Didn’t…” Sakuya’s breathing is weak, labored. Carefully Citron lifts Sakuya’s head to rest it on his lap at the very least as Sakuya’s hands weakly fiddle with a sunflower head, stained with red. The sight is frightening - would Tenma be coughing up full cherry blossoms too if this kept going on? “Want to worry anyone… told Citron and Tsumugi…”

“You’re stupid,” Yuki snaps, because it’s the only thing he can say - because it really  _ was  _ so stupid, because now Tenma was coughing too, and they’d be down both leaders if this didn’t so much as get cleared soon- “Just confess to him. The worst he can do is say no. You’d rather suffer like this?”

“Yes,” Sakuya says firmly, and the strength in the word startles Yuki briefly. “I… I have to be strong. For the spring troupe. And I know he wouldn’t…” A cough wracks his body. “... return my feelings, after all. He has so many people who love him, after all… and then there’s me...”

Citron sounded close to wailing. “We all love you too, Sakuya! Do not say that!”

“Idiot… everyone in this house cares about you and Tenma,” He sees Sakuya flinch at the mention of Tenma’s name. “And for the love of god, he’s never shut up about how good your acting is and how nice and respectful and cute Sakuya is. Even if he doesn’t know it himself because he’s a stupid useless actor, he cares deeply about you. You could’ve  _ really  _ spared us all the-”

The door slams open again. Izumi and Muku are here now - and behind them is Tenma.

_ Did Muku call for Tenma as well?  _ Yuki thinks absently as Izumi phones an ambulance and Tenma stands in the doorway, frozen with horror. Muku pulls on his arm, once, twice, and by the third time he’s pulled back on his feet and back as Tenma hesitantly moves closer- sits by Sakuya’s weak body as Izumi frantically yammers on the phone.

“Aha… how nice… Tenma’s here…” Sakuya laughs before covering his mouth. Yuki sees more petals force their way out behind his hands. “Sorry I look like such a mess, huh…”

Tenma’s hands are shaky, Yuki notes, as he holds out a handful of the crumpled cherry blossom petals he’d coughed up this morning - a weaker version of Sakuya’s own hanahaki. At the sight of them, Sakuya laughs bitterly. “Aha… so you’re in love with someone too, huh…”

“No,” Tenma says, and Sakuya blinks at him wearily. “I… don’t think I’m in love with someone. But that’s me. I don’t  _ think.  _ I might be, though- and-”

“Stop. Stop. Y- don’t… don’t force yourself to-”

“Shut up,” Tenma says, and Sakuya clams up. “Shut- I’m talking now. I don’t know  _ shit  _ about love, but I do know this: I don’t want you to fucking die. So just tell it to me now. Whisper it in my ear if you have to. I’ll go get that person. Then you tell them.”

Tenma leans down, and positions his ear near Sakuya’s mouth. It didn’t look like he cared whether or not his hands were being stained red with the blood Sakuya had already coughed up.

Sakuya breathes out a name, and a phrase.

Tenma freezes.

His lips part.

* * *

It’s a blur.

Yuki’s not very aware of what happened next. Sakuya had been wheeled to the hospital, and Tenma had been brought along as well just in case. Izumi and Sakyo had ordered all of them to stay behind and watch over the dorms, but of  _ course  _ the summer and spring troupes didn’t listen to  _ that  _ one - their leaders were in the hospital.

Muku’s sitting next to him in the waiting room. His head is on Yuki’s shoulder.

“Yuki… do you think they’re going to be alright?” He asks softly, so as not to wake up the other summer and spring troupe members asleep in the other seats.

Yuki doesn’t know the answer. “... I hope so.”

Muku hums softly -  _ Don’t Cry,  _ he recognizes, from  _ Sympathy for an Angel _ . Muku’s singing lulls him softly to sleep.

And if their fingers lace together while they sleep… well. It was between the two of them.

* * *

They’re shaken awake by Kazunari and Tsuzuru an hour later, with relief on their faces and tears in their eyes. That could only mean one thing.

Sakuya and Tenma were going to be okay.

* * *

“They don’t  _ act  _ any different,” Azami muses quietly.

Yuki was inclined to disagree - Tenma was noticeably  _ warmer _ now, and Sakuya seemed to shine even  _ brighter  _ than usual after all that. Sakyo had told them off for nearly thirty minutes for being so stupid as to hide something so dangerous right under their noses, but Izumi had come in and just blubbered that she was glad they were alright and going to be okay.

They hadn’t operated on Sakuya - hadn’t gotten rid of the flowers. They’d started dying on the way to the hospital, so all they’d really done was try and make sure he survived the dying of the flowers. Tenma too had experienced the flowers in his own chest dying on the way, so by the time they’d checked on him he was fit as a fiddle and just anxious to know if Sakuya was alright. Sakyo had lectured them as well on how to best flush out the dead flowers in their system, but by that point Yuki had decided to tune him out in favor of dozing off.

Muku laughs. “Well, I think they’re happier. Don’t you agree, Yuki?”

“Mm.”

“Better happier than dead, I say!” Kumon rocks his feet back and forth on the bench they were all sitting on. “I think it’s good that things all ended up well.”

Azami sighs. “If this happens again, I might just go white before I even hit twenty.”

“The hanahaki stuff?” Muku asks.

“Yeah. I don’t think I can handle much more of that stress with how stupid everyone is in this house.”

Yuki snorts. “Like you’re one to talk. You believe premarital hand holding is a crime.”

“IT IS THOUGH-”

Kumon cackles as Azami begins ranting and Yuki proceeds to tune him out considerably. He only leans against Muku’s shoulder and sighs, just glad that everything was all over.

At least, until he hears himself cough, and feels something force itself out of his throat.

His blood runs cold when he realizes it's a Chinese bellflower.


End file.
